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Case Study Brief: Recently, a friend arrived for an ultrasound appointment only to be turned away because she had eaten breakfast. For her scan, she should not have eaten 6 hours before the appointment. She had received incorrect instructions, was understandably upset and now had to wait several weeks for the next available appointment. The eating and drinking instructions leading up to a scan are confusing for patients and time-consuming for medical staff to repeatedly communicate. The goal of this project was to create information graphics that would clearly and efficiently provide ultrasound eating and drinking instructions.

Detail of Ultrasound Preparation infographic by KAP. Design

Design Solution: The instructions are dependent on the area of the body to be scanned so the first information graphic is a silhouette with the area identified (1 in detail above). To provide a clear visual of the hours leading up to the appointment, a linear timeline is provided (2) with the hours counting down to the appointment. On the timeline, the appointment is visually linked to the body area to be scanned on the silhouette by using the same pattern and color (green). Each set of instructions includes an eating icon and a drinking icon (3) pointing to the position on the timeline where action should be taken. Each icon (see detail below) is defined in the visual key.

Icons in 'Ultrasound Preparations' infographics by KAP. Design

Conclusion: This was an internal research project to explore the potential of visual content. For a client, this project would include user testing to ensure the information is communicated in the most efficient way possible. This solution could also be applied to other scanning technologies such as MRI’s and CT scans and other medical procedures such as surgery.

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The education level of the Forbes 400 richest people in the United States varies greatly with a surprising 15% having no college diploma and only 5% having PhDs. Considering the high cost of tuition and that the average PhD takes eight years of higher education, maybe we should all travel the world after high school and learn at the “school of hard knocks”?

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Today it was reported in the Globe and Mail that the average income of the top 100 Canadian CEOs is 189 times more than the average Canadian annual income. This infographic provides a richer understanding of the discrepancy.

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Transforming scientific data into an engaging and informative infographic is a fun challenge and this project was no exception. When you consider the potential mass appeal of the scientific journal papers (mostly text) I reviewed compared with this new infographic (eye-catching graphics, filtered data and text), the infographic is far more likely to go viral and reach more people. It is the peak time of year for deer-vehicle collisions in Canada so read and share this infographic to be safe. Drive safely!

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If you’ve ever struggled through the long and confusing process of buying a house, then you’ll know why we needed to create this infographic. This ‘step-by-step’ infographic includes icons for each professional – the agent, lawyer, etc. – displayed at each stage in the process when you will need their expertise. If you are in the market for a house right now, happy hunting!

Fundraising icons by Jamie Kapitain

Case Study Brief: A private school needed to inform and motivate the parent community about fundraising and the changing status of efforts throughout the year. Sending out an ‘easy to ignore’ Excel spreadsheet full of figures wasn’t going to get results.

Detail of Fundraising infographic. Dollar amounts are not actual amounts.

Design Solution: I created an infographic that focused on the main issue – are the funds raised to date above or below the projected amount and by how much? The amount of funds actually raised was shown relative to the projected funds using simple bar graphs (1 in detail above) and the exact difference was displayed prominently and colored coded (3). To avoid cluttering up the message, exact figures for each projection and amount raised were kept small and secondary. Icons (2) were created for each fundraising activity and placed on a time line to communicate when funds would be gathered. The strong visual nature of the graphic quickly communicates the key information ensuring the parents’ attention.

(It’s interesting to note how much more effective it would have been to display the entire infographic in this blog post rather than describe it in writing. Because the information in the infographic is private, I couldn’t post it. This illustrates how valuable infographics are at efficient communication.)

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The Ontario Provincial Election is in two days and we’re coming off of the lowest voter turnout (2007 election) in the past ten elections. Will the decreasing trend continue?

Below is the original design of the ‘Most Recent Voter Population’ section of the infographic with people visualized on the map of Ontario. I quickly received feedback from a colleague that it appeared people in the north weren’t eligible to vote but I had placed the people without concern for their location. Was this image the result of my formative years growing up in downtown Toronto? I don’t think so? The lesson learned – it’s reasonable to assume graphics on a map are placed considering geographic location. It’s always interesting when I get unexpected feedback – one of many benefits of collaboration. Keep the feedback coming!

Detail from original 'Voter Turnout in Ontario' infographic by Jamie Kapitain

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Case Study Brief: The company is using a table (see below) listing the percent accuracy of conventional scanning technologies (CT and MRI scans) and PET scan. They want to communicate that PET is more accurate than conventional technologies. Potential patients are left to comprehend and contrast the percentages in order to make an informed decision on whether PET scan is something to consider as part of their cancer treatment.

Original table listing the accuracy of different scanning technologies.

Design Solution: The goal of an infographic is to identify the key relationships, trends and patterns in the information and then to efficiently and effectively communicate the findings. Breaking down the visual communication challenge, there were three key pieces of information that had to be explained: (1) cancer type, (2) the relative accuracy of the scanning technologies and (3) how much more accurate PET is than conventional techniques.

Detail of PET Scanning Accuracy infographic.

Cancer type (1 in detail above) is depicted by a simple human silhouette with the affected body part clearly marked. It is easier to compare two values visually than having to consider numerical values so the relative accuracy of scanning technologies is made obvious with a bar graph – a longer bar is more accurate (2). Listing the exact amount that PET accuracy surpasses other scanning (3) saves the user from having to do the math. A simple layout and limited two-color palette was used to aid in efficient communication.

Conclusion: Compared to the standard table, the new infographic communicates the important information more efficiently in a professional and engaging package.

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It’s amazing how many species are unknown on Earth and the amount of resources that would be needed to catalog them all. This infographic had me looking back in my university biology text books and brushing up on my ecological terminology. I knew keeping my countless volumes piled in the studio was going to come in handy one day. The background is inspired by the beautiful ornithological illustrative plates by John James Audubon.

Guitar icons by Jamie Kapitain

I love guitars as beautifully designed objects, historical pieces and tools of music. Most of the instruments depicted in this set of icons are owned and operated by my family and so hold great memories. Each icon includes the year that the first model was produced. The guitars are (clockwise from the top left) Fender Telecaster, Dobro, Martin D28, Fender Stratocaster, Gretsch ‘Chet Atkins’ Tennessean, Gibson Les Paul.